What you need to know about Sun Screen

There’s so many options out there. Here’s a few tips on what to look out for:  

SPF15 or SPF50? 

The SPF – Sun Protection Factor – indicates a grade of effectiveness of a sunscreen at blocking UVB rays, and experts would generally advise using an SPF between 30 and 50. But did you know that the difference between Factor 30 and Factor 50 is nominal? On average, an SPF15 will block out 93% of UVB, an SPF30 will block out 97%, and an SPF50 will block out 98%.  

 
UVA or UVB? 

UVB rays are the ones that cause burning. UVA can accelerate skin aging and may cause skin cancers so it is important when looking at sunscreen options to make sure that you pick one that is “broad spectrum” and blocks against UVA as well as the UVB protection indicated by the SPF.  

Chemical or Mineral? 

Mineral sunscreens will reflect the sun’s UV rays away from the skin using minerals such as zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. While titanium dioxide has been suggested to be harmful, this is generally understood to only be an issue when ingested or inhaled in higher quantities than would be the case when using in a sunscreen.

Conventional chemical sunscreens use synthetic ingredients which absorb and dissipate the sun’s rays. Some of these chemicals, such as oxybenzone, octinoxate, retinyl-palmate, and PABA have been strongly linked to negatively impacting health. Oxybenzone and octinoxate have also been linked to the destruction of coral reefs – and who wants that on their conscience?!  

More or less?  

Many studies have shown that most people don’t put on enough sunscreen to get the maximum protection that they can offer, so making sure that it applied evenly and sufficiently to cover all exposed skin is important. Regular application is also important: generally, reapplying every 2 hours should do. You’ll need to reapply more often if your skin is being rubbed by clothing or if you’re in water or sweaty.  

To (vitamin) D or not to (vitamin) D? That is the question!   

Do we make Vitamin D when wearing sunscreen? As explained above, the SPF measure on a sunscreen indicates how much of the sun’s UVB rays are blocked. But UVB is an essential requirement for the body to produce vitamin D in the skin. Not getting enough sunlight on your skin will deprive you of your body’s main source of vitamin D.   

To get a good amount of vitamin D, you may follow this rough guide: Spend half the time it would take for your skin to burn, with half of the skin on your body exposed. This clearly is flawed advice: It’s a bit like the conundrum: how long is a piece of string?! Fair skin may burn in just 5-10 minutes of intense sunlight, where dark skin may take many hours to burn. And fairer skin will be more efficient at making vitamin D, where darker skin can be less efficient and so require more sun exposure to make enough vitamin D. In the UK, the sun from around September/October until April/May just isn’t high enough to provide enough UVB for many people to make vitamin D for much time either side of midday. And there’s so often a lot of cloud cover in the UK, but on a cloudy day, you may be exposed to up to 90% of the sun’s UV rays.  

In summary: you may consider exposing your skin to sunlight on a regular basis in a way that feels sensible for you. And the rest of the time, you might consider taking a vitamin D supplement: We have various options for all budgets and requirements at The Apothecary Shop (31 The Homend) and online https://theapothecaryshop.co.uk/ . We also have a broad range of Broad Spectrum SPF15 to SPF50 mineral sunscreens.